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Huntsville City Zoning Code

ARTICLE 44.

COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL PARK DISTRICT REGULATIONS

Purpose. The purpose of the commercial industrial park district is to provide for the retailing of goods and services, the light manufacture and assembly of products, and the warehousing and distribution of such products within the controlled environment of an attractive, park-like setting. Minimum lot sizes are defined, front, side and rear yards are required, signage is restricted, and landscaping and natural buffers are specified.

Within a commercial industrial park district as shown on the official Zoning Maps for the City of Huntsville, Alabama, the following regulations shall apply:


44.1.- Uses permitted.

Accessory structures and uses to those permitted herein.

Agricultural uses including sales on premises.

Any lawful retail sales and services except indoor firing ranges, and theatres or drive-in theatres.

Farmers markets.

Federal, state, county, city or public utility owned or operated buildings and uses.

Gymnasiums, fitness and exercise centers, health clubs and spas.

Light manufacturing and assembly, provided all such uses are in accordance with the performance standards referenced in section 44.10 hereof.

Mobile food vending sites.

Mobile food vending units.

Mortuaries, funeral homes and crematoriums.

Office buildings.

Permitted uses as special exceptions as defined and regulated by subsection 92.5.3 hereof.

Recreational facilities intended primarily for use by employees and tenants of the commercial industrial park development.

Warehousing, wholesaling, interior storage, distribution, and logistics.

(Ord. No. 96-259, § 4, 5-23-1996; Ord. No. 97-707, § 1, 11-13-1997; Ord. No. 09-815, § 5, 12-17-2009; Ord. No. 09-1053, § 1, 12-17-2009; Ord. No. 11-11, § 12, 2-24-2011; Ord. No. 11-899, § 2, 1-26-2012; Ord. No. 13-882, § 2, 12-19-2013; Ord. No. 15-406, § 2, 7-23-2015; Ord. No. 16-259, § 1, 5-26-2016; Ord. No. 18-904, § 1, 11-15-2018; Ord. No. 18-1001, § 1, 12-20-2018; Ord. No. 21-693, § 1, 9-23-2021)

44.2. - Density controls.

44.2.1. Minimum lot size shall not be less than one acre for each tract.

44.2.2. Minimum lot width of each tract shall not be less than 100 feet as measured at the minimum building line.

44.3. - Required yards.

44.3.1. All required yards shall be kept clear of driveways and vehicular access ways, except as necessary to cross a required yard, and shall be kept clear of parking areas, loading areas, accessory uses and buildings, provided however, that a gate or security station or a detached ground identification sign meeting the requirements of section 72.4.5 may be located in a required yard.

44.3.2. Yards facing an existing or proposed public street shall be considered front yards. Such yards shall have a minimum depth of 50 feet from a major arterial and 40 feet from other public streets. On corner lots having two front yards, the required front yard shall be maintained on the street that the building front faces; the required front yard on the remaining street may be reduced to a minimum depth of 30 feet, provided said street is not a major arterial.

44.3.3. Minimum required depth of rear yard shall be 20 feet with a berm and planting screen or 35 feet without a berm and planting screen.

44.3.4. Minimum required width of each side yard shall be ten feet except where a side lot line abuts a residential district, then there shall be provided a side yard of not less than 30 feet with a berm and planting screen.

(Ord. No. 09-430, § 15, 7-9-2009)

44.4. - Street access and frontage.

Each lot shall have a minimum frontage of 100 feet on a public road; provided, however, the manager of planning may approve a lesser frontage to a minimum of 50 feet for lots located on culs-de-sac or street curves.

Access to lots and building sites shall be via collector or arterial streets, wherever possible.

44.5. - Off-street parking and loading requirements.

Except as provided for herein all off-street parking and loading requirements shall be provided for as set forth in article 70 hereof.

44.5.1. Driveways and vehicular access ways, except as necessary to cross a required yard, and parking areas are not permitted in any required yard.

44.5.2. All driveways, vehicular access ways and parking areas shall be paved and properly drained. No parking shall be permitted any place other than in paved parking areas.

44.5.3. Loading areas shall not be placed within any front yard or any required side or rear yard and shall be located and properly screened, as well as practicable, so as to not be visible from any existing or proposed street.

44.5.4. Parking and loading areas shall be landscaped in accordance with section 44.8, landscaping requirements, and parking areas shall be lighted in accordance with section 71.6, PVA lighting requirements.

Required bicycle parking spaces and facilities shall be provided as set forth in article 76 hereof.

(Ord. No. 99-1020, § 6, 1-13-2000; Ord. No. 09-430, § 16, 7-9-2009; Ord. No. 10-507, § 2, 8-26-2010)

44.6. - Signs permitted.

Signs shall be permitted in accordance with the provisions of article 72—Sign control regulations.

(Ord. No. 21-46, § 1(Exh. A, § B.2.), 2-25-2021)

44.7. - Height requirements.

Maximum number of stories shall be ten.

44.8. - Landscaping requirements.

Every building site on which a building shall be placed shall be landscaped in the following manner. All landscaping must be installed in accordance with the provisions of section 73.19, installation of landscaping.

44.8.1. All yards required under the ordinance from which this section was derived shall be planted with grass or an evergreen ground cover and shall be maintained so as to present an attractive and healthy appearance. Yard tree requirements shall be as follows:

(1)

Front yards: A minimum of one tree per 30 linear feet of distance for each lot line fronting a public street shall be planted in the required front yard(s).

(2)

Side and rear yards shall be planted with a minimum of one tree per 40 linear feet for each side and rear lot line unless such yard abuts a residential or office district, in which case the first 15 feet of the required yard shall be landscaped with a buffer of screen planting as defined herein.

Existing vegetation shall substitute for the required landscaping if the type, size and density of the existing vegetation creates a year round visual screen separating the industrial park from adjacent districts.

44.8.2. Required yard trees, unless elsewhere specified, shall be a mix of deciduous shade trees and evergreens; loblolly pines shall not account for more than 25 percent of the required number of trees; other conifers shall be those varieties that retain their branches at ground level.

44.8.3. All off-street parking areas, to include drives within the parking areas, greater than either 20 automobile spaces or 6,000 square feet shall have at least five percent of the interior of the parking area landscaped in planting islands or peninsulas. Width of islands or peninsulas shall be a minimum width of at least five feet between backs of curbs and at least one tree per 20 parking spaces shall be planted within the planting islands or peninsulas in addition to other landscaping materials and plants.

44.8.4. All parking areas shall be screened from view of public streets as well as is practicable by the use of berms, fencing or buffers of plant materials.

44.8.5. All mechanical and utility equipment, incinerators and trash containers, and accessory structures necessary for the conduct of a permitted use shall be adequately screened, as well as is practicable, by fencing or landscaping so as to not be visible from any existing or proposed street or from the ground floor of adjacent buildings.

(Ord. No. 09-1053, § 5, 12-17-2009)

44.9. - Underground wiring requirement.

All power, communication, and other wiring hereafter installed in a commercial industrial park district shall be placed underground.

44.10. - Performance standards.

The performance standards listed in section 50.2 (research park district) hereof shall be required for all uses located in a commercial industrial park district.

44.11. - Development procedure for tracts or parcels.

44.11.1. Any landowner of property lying within a commercial industrial park district desiring to dedicate any street, road, or right-of-way to the public must submit to the planning commission for approval a plan of the proposed street, road, or right-of-way.

44.11.2. Anyone desiring to secure a building permit for the use of land lying within a commercial industrial park district must submit to the manager of planning the following information, as appropriate for approval of plans:

(1)

A site plan for traffic engineering analysis, showing location and design of buildings, driveways, driveway intersections with streets, parking areas, loading areas, maneuvering areas and sidewalks;

(2)

A planting plan, including screen walls and fences, for analysis of adequacy of visual screening and landscape architectural design;

(3)

Plans for all signs to be erected, including location and lighting of each sign.

The manager of planning shall review and approve by signature the proposed plot plan upon finding that the same complies with these regulations. If the proposed plot plan is not approved, the manager of planning shall state in writing on the proposed plot plan the cause for such disapproval.

44.12. - Alcoholic beverage establishment regulations.

Alcoholic beverage establishments shall be permitted in accordance with section 75.3 - permitted establishments by districts, subsection 75.3.4, and shall be regulated by article 75 - alcoholic beverage establishment regulations.

(Ord. No. 11-11, § 12, 2-24-2011)